2017 starts with the welcoming of a roaster I always make sure I keep up on their offerings and try and order from a few times a year, Mountain Air Roasting.  Out of Ashville, NC, Mountain Air has been continuously striving for improvement and routinely sources great coffees, and provides them at reasonable prices.  I’m beginning the year with their latest Colombian release Jose Javier Guarnizo.  A Caturra varietal from the Huila region, this coffee is shaded pre-drying to increase sweetness.  With tasting notes of Honey, blackberry, and vanilla, this washed offering is very approachable and incredibly smooth. 

In the 02 size V60 it requires a much finer grind than pretty much any other filter roasted coffee I’ve had as of recent.  The lavender-honey aroma upon bloom is sublime, and I tended to favor stronger brew ratios to keep the body and sweetness up.  The coffee gained some body but did become a bit ashy at brew times over 3 minutes, and was a bit too acidic on brew times under 2:15.  My preferred recipe was:

• 1 : 15.5-16 grams ratio – I’ve been fixing my yield at 340 grams to keep beverage volumes consistent, so I’ve been using about 21.9 grams of coffee.
• 50 grams of 200*F water, stirred for a 30 second bloom
• Slow and steady circular pour to 200 grams, stir
• Wash grounds down sides of filter and intermittently pour remaining as needed to keep water level around half full.
• 2:30 total brew time.

The coffee is smooth and balanced with a medium-light body and everything kept in nice harmony.  It will serve as a nice coffee for the non-specialty coffee drinker and an easy to go for the third wave junky.  It is silky and mildly sweet with slight berry undertones and a hint of vanilla in the finish.  

I’m (regrettably) going to cut the review there this week, as I have only been able to pull a few shots with this coffee so far, and don’t really feel like I have it dialed in as espresso yet.  So, be sure to check back next week for a more thorough analysis of using this coffee as espresso. 

In the meantime, ordering from Mountain Air is simple, but a little different.  Quantity options are either 250 grams or 5 pounds, and you want to be sure to order at least 4 bags of any combination to take advantage of 30% off of your order.  Shipping is always free and order processing is extremely fast.  This one is $13.79 for 250 grams before discount or $9.65 after discount, which works out to be a reasonable $17.49/lb.